We are the General Central

100 years of the General Central ABVV. 200 years of trade union history

In 1909, several socialist unions representing construction workers united in the Centrale Vereeniging van Bouwwerkers (Central Union of Construction Workers), the very first socialist trade union federation in our country. Over the years, workers' unions from numerous other sectors joined the coalition we know today as the Algemene Centrale (General Central). But the seeds of its existence date back to the French Revolution, when the first workers united, despite prevailing laws, to break free from the yoke of capital and the disastrous consequences of the Industrial Revolution. It was the hairdressers and cigar makers, the marble workers, stone cutters, brick makers, and cobblestone layers, the workers in the petrochemical and petroleum industries, the woodworkers, glassblowers, and miners, the cleaning staff, the graphic workers and painters, the leather and hide workers, and—more recently—the temporary workers, those working for service vouchers, or in sheltered workshops who, together, made the Algemene Centrale great.
This book is about them, about their struggles and their victories, about their actions and achievements, their decisiveness and solidarity.

Luc Peiren
Amsab-ISG/Algemene Centrale/Tijdsbeeld & Pièce Montée, Ghent/Brussels, 2008, 191 p., ill., softcover